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Introduction

Higher
education is the schooling that begins after the completion of secondary school, typically at about age 18. In the past, higher education was much more narrowly defined than it is today. It originally meant the schooling that was provided to men entering the professions, and these were limited to law, medicine, and religion. Today the term profession has a much broader definition and has become almost synonymous with career or occupation.

Beginning in about the 11th century, the institutions that provided schooling for the professions were colleges and universities. Now, in addition to these, there are trade schools, technical institutes, military academies, and other organizations in which individuals may prepare for a career. Nevertheless, colleges and universities have remained the dominant institutions throughout the world for the pursuit of higher education.

In these institutions different levels of schooling are provided. Students coming from secondary schools—called high schools or preparatory schools in the United States—normally take a four-year course leading to a diploma called a bachelor’s degree. The schooling that leads to the bachelor’s degree is called undergraduate work.

Students may then proceed to more advanced schooling. This may consist of study at a professional school such as a college of law or engineering, or it may involve graduate school at a university—the pursuit of a master’s or doctoral degree in a chosen field of study. After earning an advanced degree, it is possible to continue at a university in a research capacity to earn further credentials in one’s field of study. Advanced degrees are generally required before anyone can teach at a college or university.

Origin of the College

The terms college and university originally had very similar meanings. Only with the passing of centuries did “university” come to signify an educational institution composed of more than one college. The word college means literally “union formed by law,” or a group of people associated in some common function. The ancient Roman craft guilds were called collegia. The closest parallel today is the corporation, a business organization chartered by a government.

During the Middle Ages students at the universities of Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge found it convenient to rent houses and share expenses instead of living in private apartments. By the 13th century these “houses of scholars” were becoming legally recognized corporate institutions. At Oxford the earliest of these corporations were University College, founded in 1249 by William of Durham; Balliol College, founded by John Balliol in 1263; and Merton College, founded about 1264 by Walter de Merton. A similar development took place at Cambridge.

At Paris the university was divided into faculties of canon law, theology, medicine, and the arts. The arts faculty, which was the undergraduate college of its day, was further divided into four nations, which included both teachers and students. Nations at medieval universities were groups primarily of students from a specific region or country who banded together for mutual protection in a foreign land. On the Continent these nations were the forerunners of colleges. In some universities the nations were responsible for teaching and examining students. The division of students into nations first occurred at the university in Bologna, Italy.

In the United States the word college commonly refers to four-year institutions that admit students from secondary schools and grant a bachelor’s degree after a general course of studies. Sometimes called liberal arts colleges, they are often completely independent of any university connection. A college may also be a school for specialized training that takes place after receiving the bachelor’s degree—such as a college of law or medicine. Schools specializing in theological training may be called seminaries or schools instead of colleges. A university normally consists of a group of colleges—one for the liberal arts or general studies and others for engineering, law, medicine, education, and business. In a few universities the student residence halls are called colleges.

The United States also has many two-year institutions called junior colleges or community colleges. They provide two-year courses of study that lead to the associate’s degree. Many junior-college students pursue technical and vocational training to prepare them for careers in such fields as accounting or computer programming. Other students follow a more general course that is equivalent to the first two years at a four-year liberal arts college. Many of these students move on to a four-year college or a university to pursue a bachelor’s degree.

Origin of the University

During the Middle Ages the Latin word universitas referred to any type of community. When used in its modern sense as a place for advanced learning, it usually required the addition of other words such as “masters and scholars.” The term that was normally used to describe a legally chartered school of teachers and students was studium generale, meaning a place of study open to students from all parts. The universitas was a group of teachers or students (or perhaps both) within the studium. A studium was quite similar to a guild in both origin and composition. The beginners were essentially apprentices, called bachelors, while the teachers were the masters.

The studium probably emerged when the bishop of a diocese gave a teacher permission to operate a school other than the local cathedral or monastery school. It is likely that a license to teach was granted to a master after a formal examination. The studium itself became a school that granted a teaching license to its scholars after they completed a prescribed course of study and passed examinations.

By the 11th or 12th century no studium generale could be started without a license from either a church or governmental official. Teachers and students, who were mostly either clergy or future clergy, enjoyed certain privileges. In 1158 the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa granted those in his jurisdiction protection from unjust arrest, the right of trial before their peers, and permission to dwell in security. Such privileges were gradually enlarged to include protection from extortion in financial dealings and the right to stop attending lectures as a protest against grievances or outside interference with established rights.

Gradually certain schools—especially Bologna and Paris—gained international recognition, and students flocked to them. Their reputations allowed graduates of those schools to teach anywhere else. To promote the quality of certain schools, the popes and emperors granted special licenses or charters. In 1233, for example, Pope Gregory IX issued a document to the school at Toulouse allowing anyone who had been admitted to a doctorate at the school to teach anywhere without further examination. By the end of the 14th century the term universitas had displaced studium and was used by itself to describe the better-known schools of Europe.

Degrees

A student graduating from a four-year college in the United States today normally receives a B.A. or B.S. degree, meaning Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. Should the student wish further education, a graduate school at a university may be selected. (Independent liberal-arts colleges do not normally offer graduate courses.) This is a level of study for those who have graduated from college, as the name suggests. Further study of one or two years can earn a master’s degree, and beyond that a student may earn a doctorate, normally a Ph.D., or Doctor of Philosophy. This degree, contrary to its name, may be earned in a variety of subjects, not just the field of philosophy.

Besides graduate school there are other options for further study. Among them are medical school, law school, and theological seminary in keeping with the traditional professions as they were known in the Middle Ages. There are today several other choices as well, including business school, architectural school, engineering school, school of veterinary medicine, school of fine arts, school of journalism, and many other forms of specialized training leading to specific careers. Large universities have colleges in all of these fields. The degrees given by these schools vary with the profession and occasionally with the school. A graduate of a medical school, for instance, earns a Doctor of Medicine degree, or M.D., while advanced study at a seminary brings a master of theology.

The modern degree structure is more complex than that originating in about the 13th century. Then there were only three levels of attainment. The bachelor’s degree represented the first stage of academic life in a university. It had its counterpart in the apprenticeships for young members of a guild. The degree allowed the scholar to study to earn a licentiate, comparable to a craft journeyman. This degree, as its name suggests, was a license permitting him to teach and to study further to earn a doctorate or a master’s degree, which were the same at that time. The doctorate admitted the scholar into full membership in the teachers’ guild and certified him as a full-time lecturer at the university. It was comparable to becoming a master in a craft guild.

In the United Kingdom the bachelor’s is given as the first degree in arts or sciences after a three-year course in most cases. The Master of Arts degree, or M.A., is earned by examination, except at Cambridge and Oxford. Those universities grant it only after a period of residence dating from a student’s commencement of studies at the schools. At Cambridge it is awarded without examination six years after the end of a student’s first term of residence, but it does not represent additional academic achievement. It confers seniority in the school, however, and membership in its senate. Other higher earned degrees comparable to a master’s in the United States are designated as either a bachelor’s or a master’s, depending on the field of study. There is also a doctorate of philosophy in all fields. Some advanced degrees are open only to graduates of Oxford or Cambridge.

In Continental Europe, a process began in 1999 to create an entity called the European Higher Education Area. The goal was to bring the various national educational systems closer together in structure to make their degrees more comparable and to ease mobility between institutions. Participating countries agreed to adopt a three-level degree system, with a bachelor’s degree for undergraduates and master’s and doctoral degrees for graduates. In France, the bachelor-level degree is called a licence. Many countries significantly altered their systems to fit the new framework. In Germany, for example, the only degree granted before the reform took place was the Diplom, a rough equivalent to the master’s degree of the United States and United Kingdom.

Curriculum

The most dramatic change in universities since their beginning has taken place in the courses of study. The early European schools offered a core curriculum for all students based on the seven liberal arts: grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music. Students then proceeded to study under one of the professional faculties of law, medicine, or religion. Some universities were renowned for specializing in one profession—for example, Paris was highly regarded for its theological school, Bologna for law, and Salerno for medicine. Other schools were more diverse, and in time all of them broadened their courses of study considerably.

This classical course of studies was modified somewhat over the centuries, but it was not abandoned until the 19th century. In the United States it was set aside in favor of a much wider array of courses— modern languages were added to the basic Latin and Greek, for example. New science courses were added. Students were given electives from which to choose. As new disciplines—such as sociology, psychology, and economics—were formulated, they too were introduced into the colleges and universities. Today the range of courses given in higher education is virtually unlimited.

Early Universities

The first university in Europe was at Salerno, Italy. It became known as a school of medicine as early as the 9th century. As its fame spread, students were drawn to it from all over Europe. In 1231 it was licensed by Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor, as the only school of medicine in his Kingdom of Naples. The school never developed a curriculum beyond medicine.

The second European university emerged at Bologna, Italy, during the 11th century at about the same time as the famed Muslim school, El Azhar University, in Cairo, Egypt. Bologna developed into a widely respected school of canon and civil law. The emperor Frederick I Barbarossa gave it his special protection. In about 1200 the faculties of medicine and philosophy (the seven liberal arts) were added to the law faculty. At Bologna the masters formed themselves into organizations called collegia for the conferring of degrees. Other Italian universities founded from the 13th to the 15th century include Padua (1222), Siena (1241), Piacenza (1248), Rome (1303), Perugia (1308), Pisa (1343), Florence (1349), Pavia (1361), and Turin (1405).

North of Italy the first great universities were those at Paris in France and at Oxford and Cambridge in England. The University of Paris grew out of theological schools associated with Notre Dame Cathedral. Shortly after 1100 William of Champeaux, a theologian and philosopher, opened a school in the cathedral for teaching dialectic—a type of logical argumentation. Early in the 13th century some of the school’s masters placed themselves under the authority of the abbot of the Church of Ste-Geneviève on the Left (or south) Bank of the Seine. It was the granting of a licence, or master of arts degree, by the chancellor of the cathedral, however, that prompted the development of the school into a university. The degree implied a master’s formal entrance into the duties of a licensed teacher. It was also an emancipation from his state of bachelorhood, or apprenticeship.

The University of Paris as a formal institution actually emerged between 1150 and 1170, though its written statutes were not set down until about 1208. Recognition as a legal corporation came in 1215 from Pope Innocent III. His support made the school the center for Christian orthodox teaching north of Italy.

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In
about 1253 the theologian Robert de Sorbon began teaching at Paris. He soon founded the Maison (house) de Sorbonne as a theological school for poor students. His school received the pope’s official recognition in 1259, and it became one of the colleges around which the University of Paris grew. The Sorbonne is still one of the chief schools of the university. Other noted French universities were founded at Montpellier (1220), Toulouse (1229), Orléans (1306), Aix-en-Provence (1409), Poitiers (1431), and Caen (1432).

The University of Paris served as a model for the creation of other schools in northern Europe. In England the first two were Oxford and Cambridge. Of the two Oxford seems to have been the earlier. It probably began in about 1167–68 when English students, masters, and scholars were barred from the University of Paris.

There was a school taught by clergy at Cambridge after 1112, but the elements of a university did not appear until students migrated there from Oxford in 1209. In 1224 the Roman Catholic Franciscan Order established itself in the town, and the Dominicans arrived a few decades later. In 1231 and 1233 letters from the king and the pope indicated that Cambridge was a university with a chancellor at its head. The first of its colleges, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284.

The first university in Scotland was St. Andrews, founded in 1411 by Bishop Henry Wardlaw. The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 to preserve and defend the Roman Catholic faith. One of its distinguished alumni was John Knox, the reformer of the church of Scotland in the 16th century. The University of Aberdeen was founded in 1495. The fourth university of Scotland, at Edinburgh, was not started until 1583, after the Reformation.

In Germany the University of Heidelberg received its charter from Pope Urban VI in 1386. Its founder was the elector Rupert I. The University of Erfurt was established in 1379 and refounded by Urban VI in 1389 because its original charter had been issued by an antipope (seepapacy). Other early German schools included Leipzig (chartered 1409), Freiburg (1455), Tübingen (1477), Trier (1450), Mainz (1476), and Wittenberg (1502).

In what is now Belgium the University of Louvain was founded in 1425. It was controlled by the town instead of the church, and the wealth of the city enabled it to attract outstanding faculty members from the beginning. By the 16th century Louvain ranked second only to Paris in reputation and size. It had 28 colleges and a very active press.

The Reformation and After

The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century and the Roman Catholic reaction against it affected the universities in different ways. In Germany, where Protestant universities were founded and older schools were taken over by Protestants, they became mainly centers for theological propaganda and dispute. The pursuit of new learning was discouraged. The German schools almost ceased to be centers of learning. They were devoted primarily to defending and promoting correct doctrine.

The situation was similar in Roman Catholic schools. The Counter-Reformation had little impact on the older schools. They remained centers of theology and traditional learning and were not receptive to the interest in science that was sweeping Europe. Reform of education took place outside the universities. The Collège de France, for example, was founded in 1530 by Francis I as a counterbalance to the backwardness of the University of Paris at the time.

Emergence of the Modern University

Bitter religious controversies and wars resulting from the Reformation lasted well into the 17th century. Only at their close was it possible to restore the universities as places of learning. By this time the Enlightenment had begun to pervade much of Europe. New scientific discoveries were undermining the centuries-old truths of religion, and leading scholars in all countries were pressing for new trends in education.

The modern university was born at Halle in Germany as a reaction against rigid Lutheran dogmatism. The University of Halle was founded in 1694. Although a center of Lutheranism, it was an advocate of a different variety. The founders of the school were Pietists, believers who rejected the notion that correct doctrine was sufficient for the Christian life. Two of Halle’s early teachers, Christian Thomasius and August Hermann Francke, had been driven from the University of Leipzig because of their liberal views. At the University of Halle the subject of philosophy was taken away from the theological faculty and allowed to flourish on its own. It was also the first university where teachers lectured in German instead of the traditional Latin.

The University of Göttingen was founded in 1737 under a very broad charter from the elector of Hanover, who was also George II of England. It had a brilliant faculty and a large new library to attract students from all over Germany.

Gradually in the 18th century, and more rapidly in the 19th century, religion was displaced as the dominant force in European universities. The new sciences, the Industrial Revolution, and more worldly ways of thinking all helped to transform the universities into institutions of modern learning and research. Students stayed in school longer, and primary and secondary schooling became available for more people.

Modern University Systems

Models of higher education as developed in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia have had powerful influences on the growth of college and university systems in other places. The characteristics of these modern models are traced in the following sections.

France

The French Revolution marked the temporary end of higher education in France as it had been known for centuries. On Sept. 15, 1793, the National Convention abolished all universities and colleges throughout France, including all faculties of law, medicine, theology, and the arts. Thus the whole system of higher education remained suspended until Napoleon became emperor. In 1808 he published a plan that made the whole educational system—primary, secondary, and higher—subject to state control. France was divided into educational districts called académies, each headed by a rector representing the national government. The rector was in charge of the whole educational system in the region and was also the president of its university.

This highly centralized higher education system was reformed following student riots in 1968. Universities were given more autonomy in their administration, though much of the curriculum was still ultimately controlled by the national ministry of education. In 2007 a new law started the process of making all universities fully autonomous within a few years.

Higher education in France is open to all students who have passed their secondary-school requirements, specifically the baccalauréat examination. Three years of university work leads to the licence, or bachelor’s degree. Students can earn a master’s degree after another two years. Those who continue their university work for three years beyond the master’s level obtain a doctorate.

Apart from the university system, there are other institutions of higher education—called grandes écoles (great schools)—for advanced training primarily in science, engineering, and business. Students are recruited for these schools by competitive examinations from among those who have completed their secondary-school requirements and two or three years of preparatory classes. The course work in these schools is rigorous, and their degrees have a higher standing than those from the universities. Notable among these schools are the École Polytechnique, a technical school, and the École Normale d’Administration, which trains the highest ranks of civil servants.

Germany

The universities of Germany are operated by the Länder (states), not the federal government. Each state has its own school laws, and universities are largely self regulated. Administration is in the hands of a rector elected from within the school. Most universities receive federal funding, however, which gives the national ministry of education a role in setting policy.

The greatest number of students attends traditional universities, which offer the broad range of programs typical of schools in other countries. In keeping with the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area, they award bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Unique to the German system are the Fachhochschulen, or universities of applied sciences. They provide focused, practically oriented courses of study that prepare students for work in such fields as engineering, business administration, computer science, and nursing. The Fachhochschulen offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees but not doctorates. There are also colleges of art, film, and music, which award degrees up to the doctoral level.

Admission to German universities is based on an examination called the Abitur. It is taken by students who have completed nine years in a secondary school called a Gymnasium. Passing the Abitur entitles a student to the Reifezeugnis, or Certificate of Maturity, which is required for university admission. Applicants to colleges of art, film, and music must display a high level of artistic talent in an entrance examination.

Patterns of attendance at the general universities are markedly different from those in most countries. German students customarily attend from two to four universities during their undergraduate years. There is thus little of the personal school loyalty that develops among graduates of American or British universities. German students must meet minimum requirements but otherwise are free to arrange their own courses of study and length of time in school.

United Kingdom

British universities are independent, self-governing institutions, though most receive funds from the central government. The number of universities more than doubled after 1992, when the Further and Higher Education Act granted university status to polytechnics and other locally run institutions of higher education. At the universities dating from before 1992, self-government is vested in a council and senate. At Oxford and Cambridge each college is an independent unit, and the colleges together control the university. The post-1992 universities are run by boards of governors.

Some, typically smaller institutions of higher learning have retained the title of college; those that award degrees are sometimes called university colleges. Many colleges offer a broad range of courses, while others specialize in such areas as nursing, art, or agriculture. Schools called further education colleges also offer higher education courses.

Students are admitted to a university after completing secondary school and passing competitive examinations. A course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree normally takes three years in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and four years in Scotland. Most undergraduates follow what is called an honors course in one, or sometimes two, subjects. Graduate students usually earn a master’s degree in one or two years and a doctorate in three or four years.

The Open University was established in 1969. Its purpose is to offer higher education opportunities to adults who do not have time to attend school full-time. It is also a means of continuing education for graduates. There are no entrance requirements. Courses are conducted on a part-time basis mostly through audio and visual recordings, computer software, the Internet, and private tutoring.

United States

The United States is the home of the independent four-year college. Many of the early colleges—such as Harvard (founded 1636), Yale, Princeton, King’s College (now Columbia University), and others—became full-fledged universities in time. Others, such as the College of William and Mary (founded 1693), remained four-year institutions. After the American Revolution, as the frontier moved rapidly westward, hundreds of four-year colleges were founded, mostly by Christian denominations. Although there had been two-year colleges for women—the oldest is Lasell Junior College, established in Massachusetts in 1851—the community college was a product of the 20th century.

Colleges and universities are either private or state-operated. Every state has a state-supported university. Some state university systems are quite large. California, for example, has 10 campuses of the University of California as well as 23 campuses of California State University.

The diversity of higher-education opportunities available in the United States is enormous, but the standard is the four-year bachelor’s degree, often followed by either graduate studies or professional training. Far more secondary-school graduates pursue degree programs in the United States than in European countries because the general level of American entrance requirements is far lower. Some colleges demand no more than a high-school diploma.

There are no standards mandated by government for degree courses, so the quality of colleges and universities varies considerably. Some—such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Chicago, Stanford, and the University of California at Berkeley—are among the best in the world. Others are akin to good high schools.

Russia

Kirill Kudrjavtsev—AFP/Getty Images

The
first Russian university was founded in Moscow in 1755. Other early universities include those at Kazan and St. Petersburg. For most of the 20th century Russia was part of the Soviet Union, in which education was highly centralized and the curriculum focused on Marxist-Leninist theory. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Russia expanded the curriculum of its state institutions and granted them greater autonomy. The number of state schools grew significantly, and they were joined by hundreds of private colleges and universities, all established after 1994.

Russian universities are divided by subject area. There are universities of humanities and sciences as well as agricultural, medical, pedagogical, and technical institutions. Colleges, introduced in 1989, can be independent institutions or part of a university. They combine specialized instruction with practical training in a chosen field.

Competitive examinations are required for admission to universities and colleges. During the Soviet years, the average student needed five years to earn the first degree. Later, as a member of the European Higher Education Area, Russia introduced a four-year bachelor’s degree followed by master’s and doctoral degrees.

Canada

Higher education in Canada is administered at the provincial and territorial level. There is no ministry or department of education in the federal government. Institutions of higher learning include universities and various types of schools that are broadly known as community colleges-institutes; university colleges; polytechnics; colleges of general and vocational education, or CÉGEPs (in Quebec); and community colleges themselves. Traditionally only universities could grant degrees, but now certain community colleges can award bachelor’s degrees. The primary focus of community colleges, however, is specialized vocational training.

Admission to a university generally demands a high-school diploma. Students in Quebec, however, must attend a CÉGEP for two to three years before enrolling in a university. Beyond these general requirements, each university sets its own admissions policies. The bachelor’s degree is a three- or four-year program, though an honors degree takes an extra year or more. A master’s program typically lasts two years, and a doctorate requires an additional three to five years.

The oldest schools in Canada were founded by Christian denominations. The French established the first schools. Laval University in Quebec developed out of the Seminary of Quebec, founded in 1663. Emigrants from the United States founded three Church of England schools called King’s College, in Windsor, N.S. (1789); York, Ont. (1827); and Fredericton, N.B. (1828). Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S. (1818) and McGill University in Montreal (1821) and Dalhousie were nondenominational schools from the beginning.

Japan

The
modern system of higher education in Japan was established after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and was modeled on higher education in Europe and the United States. The University of Tokyo was founded in 1877 to take the lead in modernizing the country’s educational system. Today the system of higher education includes universities, junior colleges, technology colleges, and professional graduate schools. Universities offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, while junior colleges and technology colleges award associate’s degrees. Professional graduate schools, introduced in 2003, provide specialized training in such fields as law, finance, and public policy.

The majority of Japanese universities are private, though they receive some public funds. The national government sets basic policies for higher education and is responsible for the establishment of institutions. In 2004, however, all national universities were reorganized as corporations, making them independent of the government in much of their administration.

Secondary-school graduates who wish to attend a university must complete two examinations. The first is a nationwide test that schools use to screen potential applicants; the second is the university’s own entrance examination. Entrance examinations for the most prestigious schools are fiercely competitive, though admission to many schools eased with the proliferation of new universities in the 1990s.

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